30 abr. 2012

My Review: The Avengers (9/10)

¨Maybe your army will come, maybe it's too much
for us, but it's all on you! Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be
damn sure we'll avenge it!¨

Along with many others, The Avengers was one of
my most anticipated films of 2012, and I can honestly say that it didn’t disappoint
me one bit. It was even better than what I had anticipated and every single
person in the theater seemed to have had the time of their lives. There were
plenty of laugh out loud moments where everyone just cheered and the movie
never ceased to entertain. The Avengers is one of the best superhero movies
ever made, and I would say only The Dark Knight surpasses it, although
comparing these two movies isn’t fair because this film is much lighter and
self aware of its premise. The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon (who also
wrote the screenplay) is masterfully put together, meshing the incredible
special effects and action scenes with the beloved characters and perfect cast.
Everyone is really great in this film and it entertains from the very beginning.
This is what a popcorn summer movie should be. I was worried so much hype for
this film could`ve ruined the film for me, but I was wrong. All the hype only
built the momentum for this great action comedy superhero flick. Ever since the
first Iron Man came out these films (Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America, and The
Incredible Hulk) have been a sort of teaser trailer for this big movie. Those
films helped build the characters and build the momentum for what we truly
wanted to see: The Avengers. I assume this is how kids actually felt during the
early 50`s when they were expecting for the next Marvel comic book issue to
come out. This film definitely captured that essence and magic thanks to such a
magnificent team of cast and crew.

The movie opens with Loki (Tom Hiddleston)
attacking the SHIELD agency directed by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) in order
to retrieve the cube which would enable him to open a portal to another universe
and send an army to destroy earth. Loki is successful and manages to steal the
cube and force Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Dr. Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) to
join him by taking away their free will. In order to stop Loki, Nick Fury
decides it`s time to assemble the team of superheroes which he has kept a close
eye on for several years. He sends Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) to get Dr.
Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) to call on Tony Stark
(Robert Downey Jr.). Fury decides it`s time to get Captain America (Chris
Evans) back into the action, and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) comes all the way from
Asgard to try to stop his villainous brother from destroying Earth. These
superheroes are assembled together, but aren`t ready to work as a team. They
have some issues at first and have to learn to work together if they want to
stop the evil Loki.

The
premise is pretty simple, but what really makes the film work is the
interaction between all these great characters. This film could have relied so
heavily on the special effects that it would`ve lost the magic of the great
characters created by Stan Lee, but fortunately it decides to focus more on
them. The tension they face working together is what really makes the movie
work. There are plenty of funny moments as we have these superheroes fighting
and mouthing each other. Robert Downey Jr. has showed us he can play the part
to perfection, but every actor in this film really had great scenes. One of my
greatest fears was that so many actors would not have enough screen time, but
somehow everyone manages to be in this film for quite a while. Even minor
characters such as Black Widow and Hawkeye get great exposure. Another thing I
feared before The Avengers was that I thought Loki was one of the weakest
villains of all the Marvel movies, but he is really great and dark in this film.
He proved to be a great rival. But without a doubt, the best thing and most
surprising for me was Mark Ruffalo`s performance as The Hulk, he really owned the
movie and he had the best and funniest scenes in the entire film. Pairing him
with Downey Jr. was really the best thing the producers could have done. Hulk
is perhaps the best character in this film and the one I was least expecting to
enjoy. Everyone in the theater was truly satisfied with the film and especially
with the Incredible Hulk. He was amazing and so was the movie for that matter.